Consideration for the $1.725B deal included $823M in cash to Dominion Resources (NYSE:D), $167M of common units, and $300M of convertible preferred units. Dominion Midstream (NYSE:DM) also assumed Questar Pipeline's $435M in debt.

The deal is expected to be immediately accretive to DM's distributable cash flow per unit.

Dominion will use the cash and other money from related financing activities to pay down $1.2B of debt at the parent level.

DM says the dropdown deal will more than double its existing adjusted EBITDA, be immediately accretive to distributable cash flow, and support its plan to grow distributions to unitholders at a 22% compounded annual growth rate.

World Point Terminals (WPT+2.7%) is upgraded to Buy from Hold with a $16 price target at Stifel, which believes WPT provides stable assets and distributions at an attractive price.

Stifel says WPT's asset base, while small and scattered, is steady and largely fee-based, and the partnership has a solid track record of paying $0.30/quarter with coverage typically at 1.2x-1.3x, for a current 8.3% yield.

Dominion Resources (D-0.4%) is downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight with a $79 price target, trimmed from $82, at Morgan Stanley, which says shares are fairly valued on a more balanced risk/reward outlook.

The firm adds that Dominion and Dominion Midstream Partners (DM+1.5%) are well positioned to benefit in the longer term from secular demand growth for Appalachian gas production, driven by favorable positioning in the Marcellus/Utica region.

Morgan Stanley analyst Tom Abrams sees improvement in the MLP multiple compression that has weighed on the group throughout the oil downturn, and the firm expands its MLP coverage by initiating ratings on several midstream names.

While MLP prices could yet fall to new lows, Abrams believes progress has been made in approaching a bottom; however, he says investors should continue to avoid MLPs with overly-levered balance sheets, funding issues, weak cash flows and high distribution risk.